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"The strongest argument that meat is not essential food is the fact that the Creator of this Universe did not include meat in the original diet for Adam and Eve. He gave them fruits, nuts and vegetables," reads a chapter entitled Do We Need Flesh Food?

I guess my perceptions of India were all wrong. I would have speculated India to be a largely Hindu nation and the conceptual story (although it sounds here like they are taking it literally) of Adam and Eve is something that I would not have thought of as being popular over there.

I knew India was a largely vegetarian practicing nation, but would never have guessed it had anything to do with something as mundane as Adam and Eve.

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno

I guess my perceptions of India were all wrong. I would have speculated India to be a largely Hindu nation and the conceptual story (although it sounds here like they are taking it literally) of Adam and Eve is something that I would not have thought of as being popular over there.

I knew India was a largely vegetarian practicing nation, but would never have guessed it had anything to do with something as mundane as Adam and Eve.

Is this not a great example of interpreting the scripture to fit what you want it to though, if anything?

Ridiculous argument anyways. No causality is ever established, and it seems the book is just full of garbage. We would swear less eating no meat? Seriously?

Theists - If your god is omnipotent, remember the following: He (or she) has the cure for cancer, but won't tell us what it is.

I guess my perceptions of India were all wrong. I would have speculated India to be a largely Hindu nation and the conceptual story (although it sounds here like they are taking it literally) of Adam and Eve is something that I would not have thought of as being popular over there.

I knew India was a largely vegetarian practicing nation, but would never have guessed it had anything to do with something as mundane as Adam and Eve.

It is a misconception that India is filled with vegetarian practicing Hindu followers.

Only about 31% of the nation are vegetarians and of that 31% with about 40% being because they can not afford meat.

If you go to an Indian restaurant you will find dishes that have lamb, chicken, fish and pork along with veggie dishes.

In some areas, you will even find beef eating which is very acceptable, even though cows are considered sacred in other regions.

Free will is an illusion. People always choose the perceived path of greatest pleasure.

It is a misconception that India is filled with vegetarian practicing Hindu followers.

Only about 31% of the nation are vegetarians and of that 31% with about 40% being because they can not afford meat.

If you go to an Indian restaurant you will find dishes that have lamb, chicken, fish and pork along with veggie dishes.

In some areas, you will even find beef eating which is very acceptable, even though cows are considered sacred in other regions.

I had never been to an Indian restaurant, so I did not know that. I also did not some of those other facts. Thanks for pointing those out to me, it just goes to show me that popular memes which form perceptions of other cultures are, as usual, untrue.

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno

1. by definition, all indians are "hindus," because "hindu" is just another word for indian. "hinduism" is an artificial term for the "religions of the hindus." it is not a religion, it is a collection culturally indian religions, the most popular of which are vaishnavism (vishnu-worship), shaivism (shiva-worship), and shaktism (worship of goddesses like durga and kali). "hinduism," like judaism and unlike buddhism, its most famous heresy, is a "religion" with a strong cultural and ethnic element, and has no missionary aspirations outside the indian world, which is why many europeans who "convert" to "hinduism" have problems being accepted in any mainstream sense.

2. there are several parts of india where christianity is extremely successful, and using adam and eve to advocate vegetarianism is an example of the very common practice of incorporating a preexisting cultural bias into the framework of an adopted religion. another famous example is the incorporation of the persian burqa or african female circumcision into islam, an originally arab religion which made no mention of these things as part of revelation.

"I asked my father,
I said, 'Father change my name.'
The one I'm using now it's covered up
with fear and filth and cowardice and shame."
--Leonard Cohen

It is a misconception that India is filled with vegetarian practicing Hindu followers.

Only about 31% of the nation are vegetarians and of that 31% with about 40% being because they can not afford meat.

If you go to an Indian restaurant you will find dishes that have lamb, chicken, fish and pork along with veggie dishes.

In some areas, you will even find beef eating which is very acceptable, even though cows are considered sacred in other regions.

I had never been to an Indian restaurant, so I did not know that. I also did not some of those other facts. Thanks for pointing those out to me, it just goes to show me that popular memes which form perceptions of other cultures are, as usual, untrue.

Personally I have had gone to indian, pakistani/afghan, and various other middle eastern, south east asian restaurants, indian, tibetan and other tend to offer vegetarian dishes, although not exclusively. Person I love butter chicken, nan bread and rice.....although depending on the place it can be damn spicy. The sweets/desserts are great as well. I made it a habit to try other cultures foods, as I was growing up in Canada's NWT there wasn't much in the offering of restaurants (ok Caribou, seal, deer and both polar bear and brown bear I have had, and lynx stew). My background is Argentinian I love argentinian dishes and BBQ however having a diverse set of friends, which as I grew older and we had dinner parties, made me try other dishes and they are very good in many cases (ok I can't speak on sea food as I tend to puke it up, body rejects it after about an hour usually).

I usually see the same reasons for not trying other dishes, either because of cultural stereotypes (too spicy, too bland, too something....) or because they don't think they will like it. Jerk chicken for example I never thought I would like and rice with ox tail sauce it great as well.

[ 1] According to the 2001 census,[ 1] Hinduism is the majority religion with Hinduism is the majority religion with 80.5% of the population of India. Islam (13.4%), Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism(1.9%), Buddhism (0.8%) and Jainism (0.4%) are the other minor religions followed by the people of India.

In my job I work with offshore and onshore Indians and most are hindu. It tends to be more cultural like judaism. Parents picking your future spouse is very common and that preserves the religious heritage.

Seventh-Day Adventist use the same Adam and Eve argument for their vegetarian beliefs. I known most hindus have no issue with evolution and deep time. IMO they are not fundamentalists and accepting a myth from another culture like the bible wouldn't be a big deal.

I love Indian food. The food in american restaurants is "enriched", more fattening, to appeal to american taste. I have had Indian coworkers invite me for dinner in their home and shared their homemade lunches. It is lighter and healthier than the restaurants. This is also true of Chinese food. The very best and tasty restaurant indian food I ever had was in St Martin's.

Religion Kills !!!

Numbers 31:17-18 - Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

[ 1] According to the 2001 census,[ 1] Hinduism is the majority religion with Hinduism is the majority religion with 80.5% of the population of India.

that's precisely why i and most religion scholars use the term "hinduism" for convenience' sake, but hate the term with a passion. it makes india seem religiously monolithic, when it's more religiously diverse than the united states. it would even be a fallacy to equate vaishnavism, shaivism, etc., with the christian idea of "sect" or "denomination." they are distinct religions that draw on a common mythology, and at times share texts (the vedas, in particular). it would be better to draw a parallel with the abrahamic religions, though it is true that, because of the speculatory style of the vedas (and the upanishads in particular), most (not all) of the "hindu" religions have a pluralistic outlook and see their competitors as imperfect reflections of their ultimate truth.

"hinduism," to put it bluntly, does not in any meaningful sense exist. it is a term first used by western christian missionaries to lump together all the various "heathen" faiths (which they couldn't tell the differences between anyway) of the "hindu," i.e. indian, people. ironically, through their extended contact with the west, indians are beginning to use this term to indentify their religious afffiliation, particularly with westerners. even the idea of "religion" doesn't match up with "hinduism," because it's an integral part of a holistic lifestyle that cannot be isolated, except artificially by scholars. luckily, since about the 1960s scholars have finally begun to recognize that.

"I asked my father,
I said, 'Father change my name.'
The one I'm using now it's covered up
with fear and filth and cowardice and shame."
--Leonard Cohen

You have given me something to really think about. I have met and been friends with Indians who identify themselves as Hindu, Sikh and Muslim. Anecdotally the last two are very quiet about their religion. When I questioned them they were essentially coy. But when I talk to those who identify themselves as Hindu they are very open and speak freely of their religious holidays and what they believe, even their particular god or gods. I recently had a good long conversation with one woman on Diwali. Perhaps it is something like I speak freely about Christmas, but don't push my atheism right out there. Don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me the West doesn't understand this religion if you please. We tend to me myopic.

At the time of Moses and Abraham the middle east was filled with local gods and each community had their own. They would look similar from the outside. Perhaps this is like India, except India didn't have some tribe that insisted on monotheism and by force "won the day".

Religion Kills !!!

Numbers 31:17-18 - Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

[ 1] According to the 2001 census,[ 1] Hinduism is the majority religion with Hinduism is the majority religion with 80.5% of the population of India.

that's precisely why i and most religion scholars use the term "hinduism" for convenience' sake, but hate the term with a passion. it makes india seem religiously monolithic, when it's more religiously diverse than the united states. it would even be a fallacy to equate vaishnavism, shaivism, etc., with the christian idea of "sect" or "denomination." they are distinct religions that draw on a common mythology, and at times share texts (the vedas, in particular). it would be better to draw a parallel with the abrahamic religions, though it is true that, because of the speculatory style of the vedas (and the upanishads in particular), most (not all) of the "hindu" religions have a pluralistic outlook and see their competitors as imperfect reflections of their ultimate truth.

"hinduism," to put it bluntly, does not in any meaningful sense exist. it is a term first used by western christian missionaries to lump together all the various "heathen" faiths (which they couldn't tell the differences between anyway) of the "hindu," i.e. indian, people. ironically, through their extended contact with the west, indians are beginning to use this term to indentify their religious afffiliation, particularly with westerners. even the idea of "religion" doesn't match up with "hinduism," because it's an integral part of a holistic lifestyle that cannot be isolated, except artificially by scholars. luckily, since about the 1960s scholars have finally begun to recognize that.

I did not know all of that. Thanks for putting that information out there.

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno

I love Indian food. The food in american restaurants is "enriched", more fattening, to appeal to american taste. I have had Indian coworkers invite me for dinner in their home and shared their homemade lunches. It is lighter and healthier than the restaurants. This is also true of Chinese food. The very best and tasty restaurant indian food I ever had was in St Martin's.

You have to admire how Americans take an ethnic food and modify it to the point where it is no longer recognizable. There is a pretty large Indian community around here and I was pretty close with several of the families before I got divorced. We would have dinners with them often and their Diwali celebrations remain one of my favorites to go to every year. Indian food isn't one of my favorites, but I enjoy it. The one thing though that I absolutely love is paneer. One lady would make homemade paneer tikka that was out of this world.

If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X

I also love saag paneer especially made north style. Years ago I tried to make it at home. Boy was it a lot of work. Cheaper and easier to go to a restaurant. Some hot bars at places like wegmans or harris teeters have it.

Religion Kills !!!

Numbers 31:17-18 - Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

As a Brit I grew up on indian curry.. it's probably eaten more here than any other cuisine - Chicken Tikka Masala may have been invented here. I eat it practically every week (I think I'll get myself a curry tonight after reading this thread!)